1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and structure for positive identification of humans or animals, and more particularly to an intelligence bearing article adapted to be securely and retrievably stored in a living body for subsequent or post-mortem identification of the body of the human or animal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recent airline disasters have resulted in a large number of human victims whose visual identification was impossible. Also, it has been found very difficult, if not impossible, in many cases to identify with any degree of certainty the decomposing bodies of victims of drowning or multilated bodies of victims of crimes.
Reference is made to "Handbook for Dental Identification, Techniques in Forensic Dentistry", by Lester L. Luntz, D.D.S. and Phyllys Luntz; J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and Toronto, 1973, for a comprehensive treatise on the subject.
It has been found in air disasters, particularly, where intense heat has been experienced over a short period of time, that although the body flesh may be considerably deteriorated, such as by burning, the flesh does act as an insulation which protects highly mineralized hard tissues such as a bone or teeth. Teeth are relatively non-destructible but are almost totally incinerated at 1250.degree. F. Reliance is increasingly placed on methods of identification of victims involving an examination of their teeth and thereby correlating the remains with their dental records, resulting in the specialized science of forensic odontology. It is evident from a review of the literature that there is a need for a better method, than the present understandardized system, to achieve a higher degree of certainty in the post-mortem identification of such visually unidentifiable victims by the forensic odontologist, pathologist and police authority.
Under such circumstances and in view of the increasing mobility of humans and animals in the modern way of life, as well as the increasing use of incendiary weapons in modern warfare, there is obviously a need for a method by which a dead person or animal could be identified rapidly and with a high degree of certainty.